From 1969-1979 a famous Australian artist, Donald Friend, had a house in Bali where he had up to 20 Balinese ‘houseboys’ who stayed at his home.

Donald Friend

Donald Friend kept diaries detailing his pedophilia there with boys aged 9-12 years old. He finally bequeathed these diaries to the National Library on the condition they publish them. .

Australian film maker, Kerry Negara, who produced a film on the subject, ‘A Loving Friend‘. According to Negara, who interviewed the boys, now adults, the Australian art establishment kept silent on the issue, essentially sanctioning it.

Either Humfreys is extraordinarily ignorant and unable to empathize or is part of the problem. Either way he is absolutely wrong about this.

I wish there were resources for adults who were sexually used and abused as children. The fact that there isn’t says something about societies desire to continue in the status quo: Ignoring the problem because its inconvenient and unpleasant.

Barry Humphries was a long time friend of this pedophile who was openly documenting his sexual experiences with these boys aged 9-12 years old. Hence it’s not possible to see Humphries as ignorant of the situation. Unable to empathise with the boys, their poverty, exploitation – my view is that certainly no pedophile exploiting them could empathise and no-one so clearly supporting that pedophilia could either. Whilst Donald Friend portrayed himself as benevolently being generous to these impoverished boys whilst having sex with them, it seems to me he treated them as unpaid child prostitutes. How that is benevolent is beyond me.

The fact that the influential Australian Barry Humphries is happy to go on record as characterising Donald Friend’s pedophilia as benevolent is disturbing. Even more so because he is not alone in his views. Many people I have interviewed within the arts elite of Australia agree with Humphries view. They really do see that the boys Friend exploited gained more from the association than they lost. However if it were their children that Friend was having sex with I feel their views would be different.

And these boys, caught between having somewhere to live, on the condition of sex, and living in the streets, were largely more driven to comply with the abuse than, say a Western child abused by a pedophile in the home of an acquaintance. Would the same pedophile putting them in this position have done this with children who didn’t have this catch 22, children who’d have flailed at groping hands, bitten the groper? If the child they lusted after did this, would the otherwise self righteous pedophile seeing themselves as ‘benevolent’ accept this as clear statement of repulsion? What if that pedophile not only lusted after the child but believed they deeply emotionally loved the object of their lust, were ‘in love’ with the child they sought to abuse, even ‘love at first sight’, would the pedophile take overt rejection like an emotionally well adjusted adult? Can we expect that anyone capable of the emotional management of a well adjusted adult would wish to surround themselves with houseboys 9-12 with whom they traded accommodation for sex? Can we expect that someone doing something like this is not narcissistic?

Given narcissism is part of this uneven power relationships, would the aroused pedophile let them go, or overpower them, asserting their ‘rights’ over those who are physically weaker? So whilst Humphries chooses to paint Friend‘s pedophilia as ‘benevolent’, there’s a real question as to how pedophiles like Friend handle themselves with children who fail to comply or actively avert or reject what a narcissist deems ‘affections’. How do narcissists respond to having what they see as their ‘rights’ thwarted or denied? If a narcissist has played the benevolent martyr card in inflating themselves above those they abuse, surely they see them as their ‘lessers’ even though they may inflate themselves to the role of ‘mentor’ over those they abuse. And how does a narcissist, however disguised, respond to having their attentions rejected by what they see as their ‘lesser’. I don’t imagine they just tidy away their erection and take it well.

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Donna, before you wrote about this, I didn’t know who Donald Friend was. But after I read your comments I did some research. And I have to say that I am absolutely disgusted by the National Library displaying pedophile’s journals, because they think he was a good writer. Their blatant lack of regard for these children’s privacy is appalling, as is their take on this whole benevolent pedophilia which their actions seem to clearly condone. Posthumously this guy has won praise for these journals and it really angers me that the art establishment just don’t seem to care. This guy was the worst type of criminal who used and abused children. And when he was alive he should have been locked up for what he did. Just because he didn’t jump out of bushes to destroy children and he did it in a more slick and manipulative manner means nothing. He was still a PEDOPHILE!! And anyone who believes it’s O.K. to put the words benevolent and pedophilia together are disgraceful human beings, and any art, comedy, performances or journals they write will never be supported by me.

By the way, I plan to write an angry letter regarding this to the National Library, because Australian’s shouldn’t be celebrating the accomplishments of self confessed non repentant PEDOPHILES. And if the general public were aware of these facts I am sure most of then would feel exactly the same way.

Barry Humphries is an awful human being. His sympathy or understanding of a pedophile parasite makes him a full conspirator to commit and perpetuate pedophilia. There is no empathy, no half-way, with pedophilia. It’s simple those that understand the supreme justice it demands, and those that are pedophiles. It is clear which camp Humphries is in. Also it seems the Australian National Library should be included as a conspirator to pedophilia presumbaly…. amazing how it always seems to spread like an insidious parasite, a malignant cancer would actually be the cure-all for it.

Donna Williams is an Australian born adult with autism who was assessed as psychotic at the age of 2 in 1965, labelled disturbed in the 1970s and diagnosed as autistic in her 20s in 1991.

She acquired functional speech in late childhood and went on to become a qualified teacher with an honors degree in Sociology and a degree in Linguistics. She is the author of two international bestselling autobiographies and has 10 published books including 4 text books widely used in autism education and two books of poetry and prose.

As a screenwriter, she wrote the screenplay to “Nobody Nowhere”, the first book in her 4 book autobiographical series. That screenplay is currently under option to become a Hollywood film. She is an professional artist, singer-songwriter and published poet as well as a world renowned public speaker on autism now living with her husband in Australia. In her presentations she draws not only on her own experiences but on international experience as a professional autism consultant since 1996.

Donna’s is a speaker in demand around the world due to her unique perspective and ability to share her feelings and experiences on a very personal level. More information about her and her life’s work can be found on her website at http://www.donnawilliams.net .